While the House settled on one ounce, Brandon Police Chief Christopher Brickell, the head of the Vermont Police Chiefs Association, says that is too much.

"There are issues that we will face that will be complicated for us to deal with because we may make an arrest that ends up later being a civil violation or just the reverse," Brickell told VPR's Vermont Edition.

Brickell says making possession of marijuana a civil violation would create a backlog in the courts because the state already has too many people who don't pay tickets.